Brian Crichton meets a man with a passion for Reliant’s three-wheelers. [STANDFIRST]
Pete Sylvester, now 81, has never had a car licence, having relied instead upon on a motorcycle licence since he was 16, back in 1960, which allows him to ride and drive three-wheelers as well as bikes. In 1967 he bought a Reliant Regal to carry building trade tools and since then he has owned 44 examples of the Tamworth, Staffordshire, factory’s fibre glass triple-wheeler – surely some sort of automotive world record?
A dealer-sponsored scrambles rider from 1965-1972, Sylvester continues to be out and about in his silver 1998 Reliant Robin. He is a regular and popular autojumbler at Stickney in Lincolnshire and here he reminisces about his career on two and three wheels.
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“For seven years I scrambled a 250 AMC-engined Francis-Barnett for Wildman’s Motorcycles of Spilsby in Lincolnshire. In all that time it needed only one big end and two pistons. Wildman’s maintained it brilliantly. It never broke down at a meeting. The engine was very good. I once won 17s 6d (75p)! Really good fun,” he says with a big smile. “Ted Wildman, the boss, was a very good scrambler himself. I bought the Barnett when they stopped sponsoring and competed on it for another two years to 1974 and also rode in some grass track events. I wanted a Husqvarna but couldn’t afford one so I gave up scrambles but continued to ride on the road.
“I was on bikes all the time. In 1964 I was listed third in a Motor Cycle News report on high mileage road riders. That year I covered 37,000 miles, mostly on an Ariel Golden Arrow. I commuted to work every day from Spilsby to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, as well as tour riding. The Arrow was the best British bike I ever bought and I used to attend some of the Ariel rallies until Covid came along.
“My road bikes included a Matchless G80CS which I reckon was better than the new Norton 650SS I traded it in for in 1965 at Wildman’s. I also had a pre-unit Triumph Bonneville which I rate more highly than the unit Triumph Bonnie. I bought seven new bikes over the years and had plenty of second-hand models.
“In the 1960s I started Pete Sylvester Spares, supplying British parts and advertising in Motor Cycle News. I kept that going into the 1980s when British spares started running out. During that time I got the VMCC autojumble up and running at Cadwell Park.
“I went on to Japanese bikes in 1977 buying a 500 two-stroke triple and, in 1979, a 1978 Kawasaki 900. Both were brilliant. My pal said I was mad because I was always pulling wheelies on them.
“Of the 44 Reliant three-wheelers I have owned, 35 were runners, the others for spares. Twelve I bought new. I became a regular visitor at the factory but I wasn’t impressed by it –
rain coming through the roof, buckets on the floor to catch it, engines being run via electric belt drive rather than on a dyno. But you might say that I became reliant on Reliants.
“I have driven Reliants to Land’s End, Scotland and London where I was working for three and a half years in Holland Park. I would drive down and stay for a month at a time. I was a self-employed builder working mostly on erecting concrete Atcost industrial buildings. One was a workshop for a Porsche dealer. We used to build two-bed bungalows for £98 – yes, £98! Now house prices in Lincolnshire are pretty much the same as the rest of the country, and rents in Lincolnshire are £700-£800 a month. Beyond belief.
“I kept working until I was 79 two years ago when a leg problem forced me to retire. Now I need a stick. I’m not riding bikes anymore but I’m still driving a Reliant. In two years’ time I will have been driving them for 60 years.
“Next year my old sponsor, AE Wildman & Son, celebrates its centenary. Ted Wildman started the business in 1926 and it’s still in the same premises in Sibsey. It’s Lincolnshire’s oldest bike dealer and must be one of the oldest in the country to still be trading. There used to be several lovely bike shops in Lincolnshire, but many have gone now.
“I still like to be involved in the bike scene. I was one of about a dozen who took a stand at the first Stickney Autojumble eight years ago. Now it’s up to 120-150 and people come from all over the country – Yarmouth, Wakefield, Edinburgh, you name it. It’s run by Richard and Ann Walker, March to October. You’ll find me there with my Reliant. It’s the only autojumble I do these days.”
Original article appeared in Old Bike Mart. To subscribe, click here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/old-bike-mart
